A woman went viral on TikTok after she recounted how a court bailiff allowed several men to walk into a courtroom unquestioned, but made her prove she was a lawyer before entering.
Rachel Diane (@rachel__diane) shared the details of the incident from her car, from where she says, “I hate being a woman in the law.”
“So, I went into a new courthouse today, … [and] I’m prepared for no none to believe or assume that I’m a lawyer,” Rachel says. She adds that she’s used to such attitudes from fellow lawyers and even judges, but the day in question was on a whole other level.
It started with her having to get through the courthouse’s security. After showing her bar card and being flagged through by the first guard, Rachel says she was stopped by a second security guard who aggressively searched her bag and demanded that she identify everyday items like tampons and a flash drive.
Then, she was waiting outside her department, which happened to be juvenile court. She notes that juvenile courts are closed proceedings and have high security to protect the testifying minors.
“[The bailiff] opens the doors and goes, ‘Counsel only.” So I get up, and there’s three men that go in front of me. They all get in fine and dandy. [The bailiff] literally puts his arm in front of me and stops me and goes, ‘Are you a lawyer?’”
When Rachel answered in the affirmative, she says the man told her, “Prove it.”
At this point, Rachel says she once again showed her bar card. “He looks at me, flicks my bar card, and goes, ‘Where did you get this?’” she recalls.
According to the lawyer, the man then grabbed her arm and pulled her into the courtroom, where he and a court clerk deduced that her card was indeed real.
“So he’s trying to apologize like, ‘This is juvenile proceedings. We just have to be precautious. Only lawyers allowed in here,’” Rachel explains. “And after he says that, one of the men that he allowed in tried to speak, and the guy goes, ‘One moment counsel, I need to deal with this,’ and the guy goes, ‘No, that’s the thing. I’m not a lawyer, I’m a parent.’”
@rachel__diane The fact that i had to edit out numerous times I cussed and the video is still filled with f*ck just shows how upset i was 😅 #lawyer #feminism ♬ original sound – rachel__diane
Rachel’s video reached over 239,000 viewers, many of whom were amazed that she had to face such misogyny in this day and age.
“It’s sad how prevalent and blatant sexism still is for women with advanced degrees,” wrote one person.
“As a future woman in law, I AM LITERALLY FRUSTRATED BECAUSE IT’S 2024??? Lawyers can be pretty and fashionable???” said another.
“Omg I’m so sorry this happened to you, I’m a young, petite doctor and no one ever thinks I’m the doctor either and they probably never will,” shared someone else.
Someone even suggested, “File a complaint he should no have put his hands on you!”
The Daily Dot reached out to Rachel via email for further information.
